Barbara Correll is taking on some new responsibilities. After 16 years as the housing coordinator for the Southwest Guidance Center, Correll has started a similar job as the new director of the Liberal Housing Authority.

Correll started her job on April 1 following the retirement of former director Carol Beckwith, and Correll said she is pleased with the latest step on her journey.

“I’m glad to be a member of the housing authority and look forward to lots of good things in the future,” she said.

Correll said as a director, she is simply targeting keeping Parklane Towers in the best condition possible for all LHA tenants.

“My goals are to make sure all the apartments are rented, that all the units that we have are safe for the tenants, that they’re in good condition and that they’re affordable and that we can be proud that we are a part of this community and the community can be proud that we are a part of the community, also,” she said.

Correll had some news on one of those goals at Wednesday’s meeting of the LHA board.

“In the past, we’ve had a difficult time renting all of our apartments,” she said.

Correll said the housing authority receives monthly calls from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to gather information about what LHA is doing, which apartments are and are not open and what the plans are about dealing with the situation, and this month, she was able to give HUD representatives some good news.

“As of today, we have one apartment out of all three apartment complexes that is not rented,” she told the LHA board Wednesday.

Correll said the one unrented apartment cannot be cannot be used because of a broken heating and air conditioning unit.

“Until it is repaired, it can’t be rented,” she said.

Correll said she heard from HUD’s Kansas City office Wednesday, and officials with that agency told her “great job” for her efforts.

While the number of units being rented is up, Correll said some work does need to be done in another area to make sure those figures are kept up, however.

“We don’t have a waiting list either,” she said. “If we have people move out or evictions, we need a waiting list. I was approached about being at the fair, I thought that would be great. We get the booth for free.”

The housing authority will have a booth at the Seward County Five State Fair. The dates for that booth are Aug. 1, 2 and 3, and it will be at the Activity Center.

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The High Plains Daily Leader and Southwest Daily Times are published Sunday through Friday and reaches homes throughout the Liberal, Kansas retail trade zone. The Leader & Times is the official newspaper of Seward County, USD No. 480, USD No. 483 and the cities of Liberal and Kismet. The Leader & Times is a member of the Liberal Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Press Association, the National Newspaper Association and the Associated Press.

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